Carpet-fastener.



No. 700,001. Patented may 20, |902.

E. H. HuMPHnEY.

CARPET FASTE'NER.

(Application med oet. 1s, 1901.)

(N0 Model.)

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UNITED STATES 4rrrnNT OFFICE.

EDWIN H. HUMPHREY, OF MONTEREY, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO PETER I-I. HARTMAN AND ANTHONY ZIMMEROF MONTEREY, INDIANA, AND SAMUEL C. OLSEN, OF BRADLEY, ILLINOIS.

CARPET-FASTEN ER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 700,691, dated May 20, 1902.

Application iiled October 18, 1901. Serial No. 79.153. (No model.)

T0 @ZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWIN H. l-IUMPHREY, a citizen of the'United States, residing at Monterey, in the county of Pulaski and State of Indiana, have inventeda new and useful Oarpet-Fastener, of which the following is a speciiication.

The invention relates to improvements in carpet-fasteners.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of carpet-fasteners and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and eicient device adapted to be quickly applied to the floor of an lapartment and capable of enabling a carpet or analogous coverin g to be readily and conveniently secured to the floor without tacking the carpet.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character adapted to lie close to the floor and offer no obstruction at a doorway or other portion of a room when the carpet is in place or is removed and capable of enabling a carpet to be quickly taken up without cutting, tearing, or otherwise inj uring the same.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of a portion of a carpet-fastener constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of one of the carpet-engaging clamps. Fig. .4 is a perspective view of a strip of the carpet-fastener ready to be applied to a floor.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a thin strip of wood or other suitable material arranged fiat upon the Hoor and designed to be secured to the same by screws or other suitable fastening devices and provided with carpet-engaging clamps 2, embracing and engaging the strip and adapted to detachably secure a carpet or other floor-covering to the same. When the strip is constructed of wood, it is preferably rounded at the edges, and it may be readily out the desired lengths and can be quickly tacked to a floor.

Each clamp consists of a base-plate 3 and a hinged jaw 4, and the said base-plate, which extends transversely of the strip,at the lower face thereof, is provided with a front portion 5, extending -upward and inward over the front portion of thestrip to within a short distance of the center, or thereabout, and the rear end of the base-plate is provided with upwardly-extending eyes 6, abutting against the rear edge of the strip and spaced apart to receive an eye 7 of the hinged jaw 4, which is connected to the plate by a pintle. The pintle passes through the eyes, and the jaw is adapted to swing upward and downward and is slightly curved and is adapted whenclosed to extend forward beyond the center of the strip to a point beyond the end of the upper front portion of the base-plate. The jaw, which is adapted to engage the carpet, is provided at its front or outer end with a depending engaging portion S, passing through the carpet and through openings 9 and lO of the base-plate and also through the strip. The engaging portion of the jaw is approximately vertical when in engagement with the carpet, and it projects downward beyond the base-plate and is partially embedded in vthe floor, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings, whereby it is adapted to relieve the strip of much of the strain and is also capable of taking the strain off the pintles of the clamps. By partially embedding the engaging portions of the jaws in the floor the strip will require less tacks, screws, or other fastening devices for securing it to the floor and the jaws will be more securely held in engagement with the carpet. The upper opening 9 of the front of the baseplate is preferably oblong or square to conform to the configuration of the engaging portion of the jaw of the clamp, and thelower opening may be rectangular or-any other shape. The clamp besides serving to engage the carpet and the floor, as befre described, also engages the strip,`sotha't v independent fastening devices are not required for securing the clamps to the strip. The clamps IOO firmly embrace the strips and there is no liability of the carpet-fastener breaking or otherwise giving away at the points where the clamps are attached.

In practice the strips willhbe prepared for sale with the clamps arranged at regular intervals, and the said strips may be sold by the foot or the yard and tacked or otherwise secured to the floor. The carpet fastener may be extended entirely around a room, and when arranged across doorways it will not obstruct the same, and persons may walk over it without injuring the clamps and without catching the foot or the clothes in the same.

In order to positively lock the clamping-j aw in engagement with the carpet, the depending engaging portion isprovided at its upper portion with a notch l1, forming a lower inclined edge or shoulder, adapted to engage the upper portion of the base-plate at the upper opening 9. This catch, formed by the notch and the upper portion of the base-plate,

will hold the clamping-jaw in its engaging,

position and at the same time will permit it to be readily disengaged when sufficient power is applied.

It will be seen that the carpet-fastener is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, thatit is adapted to be quickly applied to a iioor, and that it will enable a carpet or other Hoor-covering to be readily applied to or removed from a floor without cutting, tearing, or otherwise injuring the said carpet. It will also be apparent that the clamping-jaws are adapted to engage a carpet or other covering a suiicient distance from the edge to obtain a secure hold and that when the carpet is engaged by the clamps the latter do not present any projections on the exterior of the carpet-fastener and will not offer any obstruction at doorways or other parts of a room. Furthermore, it will be clear that when the carpet-fastener is not in use the jaws will lie sufficiently close to the strip to enable them to be walked on without injuring the carpet-fastener.

What I claim is- I. .As anew article of manufacture, acarpetfastener comprising a strip, and hinged jaws arranged at intervals and provided with engaging portions extending through the strip, substantially as described.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a carpet-fastener comprising a strip, and jaws hinged at the back of the strip and arranged at intervals and extending forward over the strip and provided with front carpet-engaging portions, substantially as described.

3. A carpet-fastener comprisinga strip, and aseries of clamps arranged atintervals on the strip, each clamp being provided with ahinged jaw having an engaging portion extending through the carpet and the strip and projecting beyond the bottom of the latter, whereby it is adapted to be embedded in the floor, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. Acarpet-fastenercomprisingastrip, and clamps arranged at intervals, each clamp consisting of a base-plate extending across the bottom of the strip and provided with an upwardly and inwardly extending front portion arranged on the upper face of the strip, and a jaw hinged to the base-plate at the back of the strip and extending forwardly over the top of the strip and having a carpet-engagin g outer or front portion, substantially as described.

. 5. Acarpet-fastener comprisingastrip,and clamps arranged at intervals, each clamp consistinglof a base-plate extending across the bottom of the strip and provided with an upwardly and inwardly extending front portion arranged on the upper face of the strip, and jaws hinged to the base-plate at the back of the strip and extending forwardly over the top of the latter and provided at its outer or front end with a depending engaging portion extending through the base plate and the strip and adapted to engage a carpet, substantially as described.

6. In a carpet-fastener, a carpet-engaging clamp composed of a base-plate provided with an inwardly and upwardly extending front portion, said base-plate being also provided in its front and bottom portions with openings, and a clamping-jaw hinged to the back of the base-plate and provided with an engaging portion depending from the jaw and arranged to extend through the said openin gs, substantially as described.

7. In a carpet-fastener, a clamp composed of a base-plate, and a jaw hinged at the back of the base-plate and having a depending front portion adapted to engage the carpet and extending through an opening of the baseplate and engaging the latter, said depending front portion being also extended below the base-plate and adapted to be embedded in the floor, where its engagement with the latter will assist in retaining it in engagement with the base-plate, substantially as described.

S. In a carpet-fastener, a carpet-engaging clamp composed of a base-plate provided with an inwardly and upwardly extending front portion, said base-plate being also provided in its front and bottom portions with alined openings, and a clamping-jaw hinged to the back of the base-plate and provided with an engaging portion depending from the jaw and arranged to extend through the said openings to engage the floor, and provided with a notch forming a shoulder for engaging the front portion of the base-plate, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto aiixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

EDWIN H. HUMPHREY.

Witnesses:

(l. E. DoYLn, FRANK S. APPLEMAN.

IOC

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